Paperboy's $3 Comic Purchase in the 1930s Just Made His Daughter a Millionaire

In the 1930s, a teenage paperboy in rural Maine spent his hard-earned money on something that cost him a few dollars. Ninety years later, those same purchases would make his daughter a millionaire.

Megan — whose last name has not been publicly released — was cleaning out her grandmother's house in Los Angeles a few years ago when she came across trash bags full of old comic books. They had belonged to her father, who had worked as a paperboy during the Great Depression and spent his earnings buying comics fresh off the rack as a teenager. One particular stack he had purchased for $3 would eventually change her life.

She called Travis Landry from Retro Games Plus to take a look. The first bag was impressive. The second made Landry's jaw drop.

What Was Inside

Inside the second bag was Detective Comics #27 — the issue from May 1939 that featured the first-ever appearance of Batman.

The comic was not in perfect condition. It had a detached top staple, cover wear, and spine issues, earning a CGC grade of 4.0 out of 10. But in the world of comic collecting, condition is secondary to existence. Just having a copy of Detective Comics #27 in any condition is extraordinarily rare.

"I would say conservatively, at an auction for this one comic, you're going to be in the range of $200,000 to $300,000," Landry told Megan. Her knees buckled.

He was underselling it.

The Auction

Landry dubbed the collection "The Paperboy Collection." In addition to Detective Comics #27, it included a prestigious run of Action Comics, Detective Comics #31 — which introduced the Batplane — and a collection of Platinum Age rarities going back to the earliest days of American comic books.

After the paperboy's family moved from Maine to a dry desert town in California, the comics had been stored away. The stable, dry climate preserved them in extraordinary original condition for nearly 90 years.

The auction took place on April 22, 2025, at Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey. Detective Comics #27 alone sold for $683,000. The entire Paperboy Collection brought in $1,317,280.

Megan split the proceeds with her siblings and other family members.

The Batman Comic That Keeps Breaking Records

Detective Comics #27 is one of the most sought-after items in the entire world of collectibles. There are only four CGC 4.0 copies known to exist, with just 20 graded higher. Higher-grade copies have sold for well over a million dollars — a CGC 7.0 copy sold for $1.83 million in February 2026, just two months after the Paperboy Collection auction.

Before sending the comics to be graded, Landry asked Megan if she had ever read them as a child. She said she hadn't known they existed until she found them in the trash bags.

Her father never told her what he had. He may not have known himself.

A teenager in Maine bought comics because he loved comics. He stored them, moved on with his life, and eventually passed away without mentioning them to anyone. His daughter found them in garbage bags while cleaning a house, and walked away with over a million dollars and a story she'll tell for the rest of her life.

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